ANTON R. VALUKAS, Chairman of the Firm Publications · Professional Activities Chicago Office Office: (312) 923-2903 Fax: (312) 840-7303 Email: avalukas@jenner.com  Add to Outlook Contacts

Anton R. Valukas is the Chairman of Jenner & Block and is a partner in the Firm’s Litigation Department.  A former United States Attorney, Mr. Valukas specializes in major civil and white collar criminal litigation, representing individuals and leading corporations in contested proceedings throughout the nation.  He also serves on the Firm’s Policy Committee.  He is a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers and is listed in Best Lawyers in America for both business litigation and criminal law.  He serves as a member of the Judicial Conference Advisory Committee on Civil Rules.  Mr. Valukas is AV Peer Review Rated, Martindale-Hubbell’s highest peer recognition for ethical standards and legal ability.

Mr. Valukas has been lead counsel in a wide variety of matters relating to government contracts and issues of fraud and compliance.  He represents many Fortune 500 companies and public entities with regard to conflict of interest, ethics violations and internal corporate investigations.  He has extensive experience in representing clients in SEC investigations and in civil securities fraud lawsuits.  Recently Mr. Valukas was lead counsel for General Motors in an SEC investigation and settlement.  In early 2009, Mr. Valukas was appointed as the Examiner in Lehman Brothers Holdings bankruptcy reputed to be the largest such case in U.S. history.

Mr. Valukas has successfully defended several media companies, broadcast and print, in cases of libel and defamation, invasion of privacy, and violation of federal eavesdropping laws.

Mr. Valukas has a wide range of experience in the health care area.  He has assisted many corporations in developing corporate compliance policies, and conducted internal investigations for matters ranging from sale of products to embargoed countries to misrepresentations in new drug applications.  He has successfully resolved many matters prior to the filing of charges, and has handled many qui tam actions regarding Medicare/Medicaid and PATH fraud allegations, as well as the resulting shareholders derivative suits.

Mr. Valukas has extensive experience in the areas of class action and mass tort actions.  He has defended companies ranging from manufacturers to air carriers in consumer products litigation, product defect and consumer fraud class actions, food contamination, mass accident, and toxic exposure and environmental claims.  Some notable cases include serving as lead trial counsel for American Airlines in defending and prosecuting contribution claims in the Southern District of New York involving claims arising out of the November 2001 aviation disaster known as In Re Belle Harbor Aviation Disaster - AA Flight #587, the defense of a major food manufacturer in the wrongful death and class action cases stemming from an outbreak of listeria traced to the company’s meat products (the criminal case was settled by the company pleading to a misdemeanor and a fine), the defense of a major air carrier in approximately 50 wrongful death and survivor suits (appeared before NTSB, all cases settled after jury selection), and the defense of a chemical company in toxic tort-wrongful death cases alleging plant emissions caused cancer in area children.

As a criminal defense attorney, Mr. Valukas has represented a diverse clientele, which includes lawyers, accountants, real estate developers, major corporations and corporate executives in high-profile white collar criminal matters.  Many of these cases were either resolved before charges were brought or ended in verdicts of acquittal.

Mr. Valukas has been a partner with Jenner & Block from 1976 through the present, with the exception of his tenure as the United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois from 1985 through 1989.  Prior to Jenner & Block, Mr. Valukas held several positions with the U.S. Department of Justice, including Assistant United States Attorney (1970-1974), Chief of the Special Prosecutions Division (1974), and First Assistant United States Attorney (1975-1976).  Upon his graduation from law school, Mr. Valukas served for two years as Assistant Director of the National Defender Project, a Ford Foundation program funded to establish Defender Offices for indigents in various states.

Mr. Valukas was appointed in 1991 as Special Counsel to the City of Chicago to investigate and report on the City’s health care system.  He was selected Special Inspector General to the Chicago Transit Authority to investigate vendor fraud, and counsel to the Chicago Housing Authority to investigate vendor and pension fraud.  He has also served as chairman of the Governor’s Task Force on Crime and Corrections for the State of Illinois, a 2-year effort which led to the passage of major prison reform legislation in 1993.  From 1992 through 1995, Mr. Valukas was a member of the Visiting Committee of the Northwestern University School of Law, as well as a Trustee of Lawrence University.  He is also presently a member of the Board of Directors of the Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce, and Business and Professional People for the Public Interest (BPI), and has served as a director of numerous other organizations.  He is a member of the Economic Club, the Law Club of Chicago, and the Executives Club of Chicago. 

In 2007, Mr. Valukas chaired the Chicago Bar Foundation’s “Investing in Justice” Campaign to support the work and supplement the salaries of Chicago’s 250 legal aid attorneys.  As Chair, he led a team of senior partners from Chicago’s law firms and senior corporate legal executives who helped the inaugural fundraising campaign raise $905,000 in a two-week period.

Mr. Valukas has been an instructor at the John Marshall School of Law (1972-1976), and an Adjunct Professor of Law at Northwestern University School of Law (1980-1982).  He has been a featured speaker at numerous American Bar Association seminars and institutes, speaking on a variety of topics including litigation of complex civil and criminal cases, defense of antitrust and securities cases, and representation of corporations and corporate executives.  Mr. Valukas is also a frequent speaker and commentator on a variety of issues relating to grand jury investigations and corporate internal investigations.  He has published numerous articles and is the author of the publication “Preventing, Investigating and Addressing Criminal Conduct in the Corporate Environment.”  Mr. Valukas is a member of the American Bar Association, the Chicago Bar Association and the Illinois State Bar Association.  He is the recipient of numerous awards and commendations for his professional and civic activities.

Mr. Valukas graduated from Lawrence University in 1965, and Northwestern University School of Law in 1968.  He is a member of the bar of the State of Illinois, and is admitted to practice in numerous other federal and state jurisdictions.